Hi everyone. Me and my wife are now very close to deciding upon our secondary school for our son aged 10. My question relates to the English system so if you are in Scotland or Wales, please hold off from commenting as my wife and I would prefer comparable information and opinions relating to England (nothing against Scotland and Wales here).
I have read some of the posts with great interest but I still feel that my wife and I are missing something. We really would like to know of your experiences of having your autistic children in mainstream of special schools.
Our son is statemented and has delayed communication skills and is on the Autistic spectrum. He is currently alloted approx 23 hours per week support at school.
Will our son cope in mainstream with the academic side, the noise, the constant disruption and possible bullying? Would he even be able to cope with an exam atmosphere or even have the ability to take an exam? He can read and spell as good as his peers but he cannot understand Maths concepts or interpret instructions very well. He is a loner who prefers his own company but normally is well behaved in class, even though he may be anxious and moody on many occasions. Do we, on the other hand, go down the special school route where he, in my opinion, will not be challenged academically. As an example, in mainstream he may get the chance to study French and German but I doubt it will be touched in a special school. Regardless of whether he can pass an exam, do we still push to have him experience these new subjects?
Am I being selfish in being negative towards a special school who have already stated to us that they do not push the majority of kids to study GCSE as, in their words, 'their kids will not be able to cope with exam stress' (the special school we may choose is for kids with mild learning difficulties).
We would really like to hear from parents who have had their kids go through the first few years in mainstream and/or special schools and let us know a.s.a.p your very frank opinions on this. How do you feel on the decision you took and how are your kids coping in either of these environments.
Genuinely, my wife and I are not sure what to do but we have pretty much run out of time on this so we need to make an imminent decision.
Thank you.
